For the first year, in many years of parenting, hubby and I got to do our own thing on Halloween this year! Having spent the Saturday decorating the drive-way with cobwebs and chalk drawings… My hubby and I left the children (two of them, the third was staying over night at a friend’s house) with […]
I’m always looking for the next challenge to keep me motivated to get outdoors and exercise (especially given the Wellington wind can often make that less appealing!). Over the past winter I have felt the most upbeat I’ve been in years (given that my three daughters now sleep through the night, and my eleven years […]
Maroon 5 played repeatedly in the car of our VW Convertible, as we whizzed along the highways of southern California, soaking up the rays and enjoying the sunshine beaches. The year was 2013 and whilst our New Zealand friends, in Wellington, were battling the wild winds of winter, we were basking in an endless summer. […]
As a family, on holiday, we tend to have a day of all action, thrills and spills, followed by a quieter day of simple fun. Whenever I look back on holidays those simple activities, and smaller side-trips, are often what stay in the mind more than the action packed days. As a Mum it’s seeing […]
After eight sleeps away on business, the man of the house is back! He was away in the UK and flew the long haul to LA, and on to Auckland, before the ‘hop’ down to Taupo to meet up with us on Sunday. Taupo Airport is a gorgeous place to hang out, especially in the […]
Father’s Day, celebrated on the first Sunday of September in New Zealand (and Australia), was this year spent with a mix of action and creativity. Two of our three daughters were keen to get their Daddy out for some action and took him to the local recreation centre for an hour or two of roller-blading! […]
This was the scene into the second kilometre of the half marathon I ran on Sunday morning – The 5 Bridges Half Marathon, organised by Capital Multisports. It was a beautiful winter’s morning, with a fairly gentle northerly to contend with for the first 10 kilometres (I was just grateful it didn’t start gusting any […]
It’s been two weeks since we returned from our fabulous hols in Singapore (more blog posts coming on that trip!), and we’ve been so busy settling back into ‘Term 3’ of the school year – especially with the man of the house away, on business, for a week and a half. He was working in […]
Singapore, halfway between the UK and NZ, or thereabouts. A guaranteed warm destination to break up our NZ winter. A couple of weeks by the pool with plenty of entertainment to please everyone in our group – from the children (aged 5, 9 and 12) to the parents (myself and hubby) and the grandparents (who […]
There’s nothing like a Birthday, particularly one of your child, to make you aware of how time flies (and seems to keep speeding up the older they get!). Our oldest daughter turned 12 today and she’s had the most fun weekend celebrating. She spent the night before her Birthday celebrating with friends. They played Laser […]
On the 29th May this year, hubby and I celebrated 16 years of marriage, a good fourteen-plus years of which have been spent living as expats in New Zealand; on the opposite side of the world from our birth place of England and our dearly loved (missed and thought about often) families and friends. It […]
When my youngest daughter, Alice, heard that Wellington Zoo had five new otters come to live there, she was so excited to go and visit them. As the zoo is only a short, five minute, drive from our home – and we have an annual pass – we had good reason to pop by the zoo […]
As the sun set on 2014, after an inclement day of weather in Wellington, New Zealand, we gathered at one of our neighbour’s homes, along with other lovely folk in the community that we are blessed to have in our lives, sharing this parenting journey. Pizza and puddings was the perfect combination, with fireworks at […]
‘Where’s puppy gone?’ I asked, having become quickly accustomed to him sitting by my feet and following my every move. No one answered. No one had seen him. It was then I realised how quiet it was – and remembered that I’d left our new bunny, Fudge, to free roam upstairs (he’d quickly learned to […]